Chapter 2

2. There's something wrong with this mothership!

The hatch opened, and green indicator lights illuminated the white corridor, guiding Tang Xiao to the elevator leading to the bridge. The nurse at the door bowed her head and ran back to the medical bay to tidy up.

【The administrator has awakened, please all personnel pay attention to work arrangements... The administrator has awakened...】 The broadcast from the mainframe continued to echo through the corridor.

However, the place still felt empty. Tang Xiao walked for a long time before he saw two soldiers in black uniforms standing at the elevator entrance.

Seeing Tang Xiao approach, the two soldiers snapped to attention and gave a very standard military salute, "Administrator, good!"

Tang Xiao was a bit uncomfortable but still nodded and returned the salute. Seeing his response, the two soldiers stood even straighter.

The elevator took about ten minutes to reach the deck where the bridge was located. Fortunately, there was a TV inside to pass the time, and even a terminal to handle work, though Tang Xiao didn't know what he should do right now.

Soon, he arrived at a vast hall. At the entrance were two more soldiers, their faces resolute, who immediately snapped to attention and saluted as Tang Xiao approached.

In the center of the hall was a large holographic star map, but most of it was dark, showing nothing.

Around the hall were many seats and control panels. It seemed that to make this place operational, at least a hundred people would need to work together, but currently, only a dozen people were working in the hall.

"Administrator, good!" Everyone present stood up in unison and saluted Tang Xiao.

Tang Xiao nodded and looked out through the large panoramic observation window. A green planet came into view. Unlike the blue Earth, this planet was covered with a vast amount of green vegetation, making it appear entirely green.

Outside the planet, white atmospheric clouds were clearly visible, indicating a good atmospheric environment.

However, the most striking thing was not the planet but a massive planet behind it. Compared to this small planet, the giant planet was like an elephant standing next to a mouse.

The pale blue sphere looked smooth and clean, with only a few dark cyclones, like a bouncy ball from childhood—clearly a gas giant.

"Is this the habitable planet we've found?" Tang Xiao asked.

【Yes, Administrator.】 The central holographic projection immediately switched to a view of a star system, and the mainframe explained: 【The current star system is a binary system, with two stars orbiting a common center. In this system, there is only one planet, a gas giant with a diameter of 48,951 kilometers.】

【Additionally, this gas giant has nine moons, and we are near one of them. Another moon has a suitable climate, but its ocean coverage exceeds 99%, making it unsuitable for colonization.】

"Nine moons orbiting a gas giant?" Tang Xiao frowned, thinking back in his memory. "So, we can only colonize this small moon, right? What should I do now? Can't you give me some advice?"

A young man in his mid-20s, wearing a dark blue uniform, stood up from a round table, saluted Tang Xiao, and said, "First, we need to replenish fuel. The atmosphere of this gas giant contains a large amount of helium, which can be used as energy for various ship reactors. Therefore, we need to build a mining station near the gas giant. The mothership's warehouse has modular semi-finished products, and some small engineering ships are stored in the hangar to complete the assembly work, but these ships need to be piloted."

"So, I need to awaken these pilots?"

"Yes, after you awakened from hibernation, the mainframe awakened 50 of us to prepare for your arrival. This includes 10 marines, 5 administrative personnel, 5 advisors, 5 communications personnel, 5 maintenance personnel, and 10 mothership operators. Additionally, 10 medical personnel are on standby to ensure our health. We need your authorization to awaken more people."

"Very well, what's your name?" Tang Xiao asked, noting the man's orderly manner.

"My name is Qi Jian! I am a member of the advisory staff!" Qi Jian answered loudly, standing up straight.

"Qi Jian, that's a good name. If there's no corresponding position now, from this moment on, you will be our temporary chief advisor." Tang Xiao said.

Qi Jian was immediately excited and loudly replied, "Yes! I will ensure the completion of the task!"

"Alright, let me see the status of our hibernating crew." Following the mainframe's prompt, Tang Xiao sat in the highest seat at the center of the bridge. A large holographic screen immediately appeared in front of him.

The screen listed 600,000 residents and 50,000 crew members available for awakening, each with different areas of expertise. Given the current situation, it was clear that he should choose from the 50,000 crew members, as they were more familiar with working on the mothership.

These personnel were divided into different levels, including ordinary, elite, and master. After that, there were three levels marked with question marks. The conditions for awakening these personnel varied.

For example, master-level individuals were generally the top experts in their fields. Awakening them to face a barren colony with no tents would likely result in them immediately quitting or even dying.

Therefore, the conditions for awakening these individuals were noted, mostly based on their own requirements before entering cryogenic hibernation and signing contracts with the mothership.

Tang Xiao curiously checked the requirements for master-level individuals. He randomly clicked on one and found a master-level astrophysicist who required a three-story villa, a private swimming pool, the most advanced laboratory, and a super radio telescope built on a plateau at least 3,000 meters above sea level.

He clicked on another, a master-level quantum mechanic, who needed a clean-room laboratory, the most advanced equipment, a particle collider at least 50 kilometers long, and two female secretaries under 20 years old, as well as a swan velvet bed with a diameter of at least 5 meters?

What the heck? Brother, you're not right!

There were also more reasonable requirements, such as a master-level sociologist who simply wanted the colony to have a population of over 10 million...

...

...

This demand is ridiculous, you bastard (╯°Д°)╯（┻━┻!!

Tang Xiao decisively closed the interface for master-level individuals and didn't even look at the elite level. He had nothing now, and even if he awakened those people, they would likely quit or die.

In contrast, ordinary-level personnel had no conditions for awakening. He opened the list and found that most just needed food, shelter, and work. Only a few had minor conditions, such as needing a mixed-gender work environment or wanting to eat noodles.

Before authorizing the awakening, Tang Xiao thought for a moment and asked, "Mainframe, only I can authorize the awakening of crew members, and they all work for me?"

【Yes, you are the highest authority on the mothership. All your orders will be executed unconditionally, including the immediate self-destruction of the entire mothership. All crew members and residents were selected by you and have the highest loyalty to you.】

"When did I select them?"

【There is no related record in the database.】

Tang Xiao nodded silently. He quickly found the engineering department among the ordinary-level crew members and selected 10 teams, each with 10 people, to operate the engineering ships. He then followed the mainframe's prompt and awakened 2 teams of 10 people each for logistics and maintenance.

After taking charge, Tang Xiao quickly got into the role. This small-scale task allocation was relatively simple. He also awakened 20 people from the agricultural department to tend to the hydroponic chambers on the mothership, as he found many of the crops had withered.

No wonder the mainframe said the supplies were running out.

After completing the most urgent tasks, Tang Xiao sighed in relief and said, "Mainframe, give me a basic introduction to this mothership."

【Certainly.】

The central holographic projection showed a panoramic view of the mothership, and the mainframe continued to explain: 【The civilization and manufacturer of this ship are unknown. The current highest authority is Administrator Tang Xiao.】

【Technical specifications: Total height 41.37 km, longest part 10.92 km, total weight 373.079 billion tons. Armament: 5 mass drivers and a point defense system with 377 small electromagnetic rapid-fire cannons. Total capacity...】

While the mainframe was explaining, Tang Xiao was not paying attention to the details. He was stunned by the holographic projection of the massive ship in front of him!

This was a giant ship shaped like a crescent moon or a banana, with a very aesthetically pleasing design. There was a gap in the upper middle part, where many windows were located, and that was the bridge.

What shocked Tang Xiao was not the size of this super-giant ship, which was equivalent to the distance from Beijing to Langfang, but because... he recognized this ship!

"Home! Kushan's mothership!" Tang Xiao jumped up from his seat, exclaiming in surprise.

Tang Xiao had certainly played "Homeworld: Kushan's Song," a game that pioneered a new era in space real-time strategy games. Not only that, the game was also known for its grand storyline, which had deeply captivated Tang Xiao when he was in elementary school.

But now, the iconic ship of the entire "Homeworld" universe—the Kushan mothership—was actually the one he was in charge of?

This is not right! Why did something from a game become reality? And if the "Homeworld" mothership can appear in reality, does that mean...

That dream might have been real! Is this really the "Star Wars" universe?